Marijuana News Today

In the marijuana news today is another big victory for marijuana legalization in the United States: the firing of Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Meanwhile, the marijuana stock market on the whole pulled back this morning.

First, let’s get to the political news.

Attorney General Sessions is now officially out of a job. No matter what your political inclinations may be, this is great news for marijuana bulls. Sessions was one of the staunchest marijuana prohibitionists and anti-drug crusaders remaining in American politics.

Now that Sessions has gotten the ax, it’s unlikely that the next attorney general will be anywhere near as anti-pot as he was.

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This puts to rest—finally—what had been a rolling concern ever since Sessions was appointed AG by President Donald Trump; namely that the U.S. would engage in a marijuana crackdown on the federal level.

Remember, while many U.S. states have legalized marijuana in one form or another (with Michigan, Missouri, and Utah to be joining that group), the federal government still strictly prohibits the marijuana trade.

Due to the practice of preemption, whereby federal law supersedes state law, Sessions would have been well within his powers as AG to enforce the federal ban, potentially disrupting the legal trade of marijuana in dozens of states.

Luckily, Sessions did not go ahead with that. And with him now out, the U.S. marijuana industry is more secure than it has been in a long time.

Now, there’s still a chance that the next AG will be anti-marijuana, but it’s highly unlikely that their anti-cannabis stance will be anywhere close to the level of Sessions.

While the Trump administration (and by extension, Sessions) was tied up with a number of other more pressing matters that prevented the marijuana issue from taking center stage, the looming threat of a U.S. marijuana crackdown had been present ever since Sessions was sworn in. With his firing, the cannabis industry can breathe a sigh of relief.

Trump, for his part, has been edging closer and closer toward full-on marijuana acceptance. At the very least, it seems that the president is content to continue the policy of his predecessor, wherein the feds generally back off from the marijuana businesses that have been regulated by state governments. This allows the burgeoning industry to flourish without the threat of a federal crackdown.

TLRY Stock

While the news surrounding the resignation of Sessions is great for the long-term projection of the marijuana stock market, the short term is a different story.

Although marijuana stocks went soaring in the immediate aftermath of Sessions’s departure, the market was singing a different tune altogether this morning. Marijuana stocks went down across the board today, with huge pullbacks in some cases.

Tilray Inc (NASDAQ:TLRY) was among the hardest hit, down 12% in early-morning trading.

The pot stock market has been behaving erratically as of late, with pullbacks seemingly signaling a prolonged correction that has been tapered by strong market runs.

Now it appears we’re seeing another pullback, but I’m cautious to call this the beginning of a longer correction.

We have been seeing a lot of fits and starts in the cannabis stock market lately, with volatility in the wake of Canadian legalization and no massive event on the horizon to push hype.

Tilray is among the most volatile marijuana stocks around. Since TLRY stock’s entry in the market as the first marijuana stock to have an initial public offering (IPO) on the Nasdaq, it has seen a massive spike in value that has brought it to a terminal point. It rose so high, so fast that its potential for future gains has been greatly curtailed.

I anticipate that Tilray stock will continue to be among the hardest hit in the marijuana stock market during pullbacks—due to its explosive, unsustainable growth. This makes it a riskier pick.

CGC Stock

On the flip side of Tilray stock, you have Canopy Growth Corp (NYSE:CGC).

Canopy Growth stock was also down this morning, dropping five percent in early-morning trading. And like TLRY stock, CGC stock is up big over the past five days, gaining about 18% compared to Tilray stock’s 24% gain.

Where the two stocks diverge, in my view, is that Canopy Growth stock has far greater growth potential and far less vulnerability than Tilray.

Furthermore, Canopy Growth has better fundamentals than Tilray, having scored major supply agreements across Canada while expanding its operations globally. Add that to an impressive and improving supply capacity and CGC stock has among the best foundations in the marijuana industry.

TLRY stock, by contrast, has mainly thrived on hype so far.

CGC stock will experience the ups and downs that are endemic to the marijuana market, but its downs will be softer and its potential for long-term gains is much higher than just about any other marijuana stock.

TLRY & CGC Stock Performances

The TLRY stock (black line) and CGC stock (blue line) performances from the past week are seen on the chart below:

Analyst Take

The firing of Attorney General Jeff Sessions is a solid win in the marijuana news today.

Sessions represented one of the last holdouts of the old guard in U.S. politics that firmly stands against marijuana legalization.

With Sessions out, the cannabis industry is about as unfettered as it has ever been since Trump assumed the presidency. Now that the Democrats control the House, expect to see pot reform on the table in the next few years.

Meanwhile, the marijuana stock market has been bouncing back and forth, which makes short-term predictions more difficult.

But moving forward, I’m as bullish as ever on the long-term prospects of the legal marijuana sector.